(Image: snapshotserengeti.org/CC BY 4.0)
A gazelle witnessing this scene would be terrified. This cheetah, which looks like it鈥檚 about to pounce, was caught mid-run by a camera trap in the Serengeti National Park.
The image is one of over 320,000 photos of startled, unaware or curious animals captured by the park鈥檚 225 camera traps between 2010 and 2013.
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They have now been classified in called Snapshot Serengeti. from the University of Minnesota led the project, which enlisted more than 28,000 volunteers to pore over the pictures and identify as many species and behaviours as they could, before an algorithm took over to categorise them.
Forty species of mammal were identified, in a variety of poses, ranging from a gathering of zebras to a giraffe鈥檚 bottom.
(Image: snapshotserengeti.org/CC BY 4.0)
There is a good showing from birds too. In the photo below, a southern ground-hornbill looks like it is attempting to swallow the camera.
(Image: snapshotserengeti.org/CC BY 4.0)
The researchers hope the pictures will lead to a better understanding of the park鈥檚 ecology and its inhabitants.
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